Kinda personal question

[Real Loser]

Interesting post. I sat down and looked at what we spend and we, too, spend around five thousand dollars per Disney trip. We have taken four of them in the last three years. This past year we used annual passes for two trips totalling 19 nights, that saved us about $1100 for the three of us. How much of our income is $5000? About five percent. The memories really are priceless. On site we spend about $150 /day for food and miscellaneous stuff. We have really come to appreciate the moderates and enjoyed the ability to get AP rates this year. I think we are "middle of the road" travelers. I felt our stay at the Poly ( $247.00) was way overpriced. The Swan, too and I did not enjoy them as much. I am quite comfortable spending this amount of money at Disney each year. Just as long as it is not on a credit card with a balance I carry.

Remember the line from Auntie Mame, "Life is a banquet and most poor ***are starving to death".

Not if I can help it.

Gina

 

[apagano]

My personal philosophy: It's your money. It's your choice to spend it on whatever you please. Likewise, it is your responsibility to keep your family out of financial trouble. Is 6K a year going to keep you from putting food on the table? Will you be so burdened with debt that you will be in deep trouble if one of you loses your job? Do you have an emergency fund in place for your family in the event of job loss? Hey, if you can afford it, go for it!

 

[Dodie]

I did the math and, combining our 2 vacations and smaller trips during 2002, we spent about 4.5% of our combined (before taxes) income on vacations last year. Sounds pretty comparable to most people here.

 

[Michelemouse]

Average Cost of Our Disney Vacations: $4,000.00

Percentage of Income Spent: About 4%

Time Spent and Memories Made with our Family: Priceless

 

[beansmom]

Simple equation...Disney trip = 5-grand no matter how you slice it.

I must disagree...I am planning a 5 day trip for my sis, her so and 4 kids that will cost a max of $3500. It's all in the planning and what you will or will not pay for. My family (3 of us) went in 2000 and stayed on site for 7 days and spent $3500. We took $5k and brought over $1200 back. It can be done.

BluOrchid, I work for SBC, too. And like you, I scrape, scrimp and economize as much as possible so that we can afford to go on vacation and spend as much as we want without worrying about it. If you want to spend $500 every day, that's your business. I think vacations are meant to be enjoyed and I don't enjoy penny-pinching or cooking on vacation and I'm not gonna sleep somewhere where the roaches are big enough to carry machine guns.

 

[Trish5768]

I would have to say that we make less than that but still spend about 5%. My DH is the only one who really gives me any grief but he grew up broke and just does not understand alot of this. However, he has never once said we could not do this. We try to go at least once a year and hopefully this year we will go twice. My family does think I'm crazy but that has not stopped my Mom from coming on several of our trips including the one I have scheduled for May. I too save and look for the best deals and that helps alot.

 

[gonga]

Average Disney trip = $5000.00
divided by 365 (days in year)
equals ...............$13.69 dollars per day (or $95.89 per week) you must save to go to Disney every year.

Very easy to budget and save

think of it this way if you smoke 3 packs of cigs a day it costs $12.50 per day - so quit smoking and go to Disney instead

If you save all your change at the end of the day in a big jar.... well that's up to you but it adds up quick!

I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to get $13.69 per day.

it's so worth it espically when you step out of the airport and smell the beautiful Florida air and know you have days of fun ahead of you!

 

[PatriciaH]

Originally posted by Luv2trav
By the way Patricia, I'm not sure if you been there before but Playa Del Carmen is BEAUTIFUL.... We went there last spring.

Yes, we were in Cancun/Playa del Carmen in 1997 and Playacar again in 2000. We want to go back because we fell in love with Mexico! I wish I was swiming in that beautiful water now.

 

[Trish5768]

Awesome idea Gonga! I think I'll keep that in mind when budgeting for our next trip. Thanks!

 

[raidermatt]

Hmmm...good question.

We took two major trips last year, 14 nights at WDW, and 8 nights on Kaua'i. With DVC, and other credit card rewards we used, I'd estimate it came out to about 6 or 7% of our gross income, which seems to be a similar percentage as you, Luv2trav. So if you're crazy, we are too!

I don't really stress over percentages of income and such, and just look at each situation individually. If you can pay for it, and still meet other needs (housing, savings, debt, etc), then I say go for it and have a blast.

One thing that is sometimes forgotten is that the cost of a vacation should be reduced by the amount of money you would have spent had you stayed home. For instance, if you spend $150 per day for your family's meals in WDW, you should subtract what you would have spent on meals at home to figure what it really cost you. After all, its not free to stay home!

 

[Gillian]

If you smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day, as in the example gonga gave, you'd better splurge on Disney while you can!

I don't think anyone who isn't paying your bills & looking at your bank statements can tell you what is too much to spend on vacations. Some people have good income but lots of debt. Expensive cars, big house. Or they live in a more expensive part of the country. And childcare may or may not be an issue. Maybe you use a zillion coupons and get most of your food for free!

There are just too many (private!) variables, and I don't think anyone else can tell you if it's the right way to spend your money. I would suggest that people not lease cars, in general, but that's not good advice for someone who gets a new vehicle every 2-3 years, or uses it mainly for business. For my drive-the-Hondas-until-they-die family, it doesn't make sense to lease, but that doesn't mean it's evil.

 

[Golter]

Airfare 5 * 175 = 875
Disney 5 * 200 = 1000
USIOA 5 *80 = 400
Food = 1000
Souvies = 250
Condo = 500

Total $4025 or 4% of household income.

 

[shelly3girls]

I look at it this way. If I don't go on atleast one nice vacation a year, I will lose my mind or die from stress. Then I won't be around to enjoy my family or need retirement. If it is worth it to you then don't care what anyone else says. Yes, I get comments about how often we go to WDW but I don't care. I will never get these years back and the joy on the face of my girls will live in my memory forever!

 

[donna in Oz]

Gotta go with the majority here . . . . probably spend about 5% of annual income on each trip. (Perhaps slightly more . . . .)

But if someone offered me a refund of the cost of our trips just to purchase our photographs/videos, they'd walk away empty-handed!! Some things are priceless . . . . . . .

Enjoy what you can while you can!! With the world situation as it is, who knows what tomorrow will bring. (Sad but true).

 

[gonga]

Donna-I love your cartoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tulip]

Together DH & I make about $55K (that's in Canadian) and the last vacation at Disney we spent $6K (also Canadian). We don't have any kids (yet) so it's a lot for a couple but we don't go very often.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

Originally posted by raidermatt
One thing that is sometimes forgotten is that the cost of a vacation should be reduced by the amount of money you would have spent had you stayed home. For instance, if you spend $150 per day for your family's meals in WDW, you should subtract what you would have spent on meals at home to figure what it really cost you. After all, its not free to stay home!

Good point, Raidermatt! I'll have to use that one on my dh!!! I think we've been spending about 5% of our income on vacations for the past couple of years, but we went for several years with NO real travel either (when our twins were babies), so I say it's time to make up for it!

Sue

 

[mom_rules]

I think we are with the majority-we don't go often and a
family of four (now all adults) our trips every two
years is about 12000 US -10 days(when you look at the CDN equivalent - around $18000) for four every
two years it's about $9000 CDN. per year. Heck, it costs us
$1200 a week to rent a cottage up north and I still have to drive 5 hours, buy food,cook and clean!

 

[SandraC]

DH is the big bread winner in our house, I work part time. I think it's safe to say we are middle class folk. What we do have going for us, is that we live under our means. While most of my friends are house-poor and have huge car payments. We have no mortgage, no car payment, and no debt. We live in a lovely townhouse and have two cars. We could buy a huge house, but then we couldn't do vacations or buy the things we want. We are comfy the way we live. That's why I don't mind at all spending $5000 US on Disney vacations. We get a lot of vacation for the money. We stay about 11 days on site at moderates, sly down, rent a mini-van and eat 6 character meals. My kids are 3 and 9 so WDW is the perfect vacation for us. I priced a summer vacation to western Canada is it costs about the same as WDW. I pay for WDW vacations from my part time job and still have money left over for toys and stuff. We are not rich, but we make it work. S

 

[DancingBear]

DW and I started going to DW every other year or so when I was in law school. We made three trips with my elderly father-in-law, who has since passed. We've made three trips with my parents (now in their 70s), the last one including my 2yo son.

Although we are more comfortable now, many of these trips were taken when we didn't have a lot of extra cash. However, I have never regretted a dime we spent on these trips.